Julian’s realisation that ‘doing something’ on holiday was a better stress buster than ‘doing nothing’ led to an innovative idea for a cultural tourism project. In a short interview with i-genius, he talks about his charity, The Livingstone Tanzania Trust, the development problems facing Tanzania today, and his recent discovery of the term ‘social entrepreneur’…

Editor: Could you tell us a bit about the Livingstone Tanzania Trust and the work that it does? What is your role within the project?
Julian: The Livingstone Tanzania Trust is a self-help development charity seeking to alleviate poverty in Tanzania through education. What does that mean? We do not believe in giving handouts to people. We believe that development starts at the grassroots with people acknowledging that they want to develop, they want to learn, they want a better life style than they currently have for themselves and their children. In Tanzania they know how to do this but lack one or two of the resources to make it happen. Normally one might expect the local Government to assist, but even the local government is resource poor. So we seek to assist them in helping themselves. For example we are working at a primary school outside Babati in Northern Tanzania. The community have identified their needs and with assistance have prepared a 5-year plan, with budgeted costs, but lack the funds to buy the materials. They want to be part of building the school, will provide the bricks, the manual labour, the food etc all for free because they know it is their community that will benefit. We, together with local government will help find the wood, the corrugated iron roof, and the technical experts to help make it happen. We do not want to help communities who are not prepared to help themselves.

In order to generate funds for this type of project, we have set up a cultural-adventure holiday scheme, whereby we take tourists on holidays that introduce them to the people as well as the animals and then take them to the development project. On top of the cost of the trip is a fixed development fee, which goes directly (100% of it) to the projects they see on their trip. The cultural holiday is also operated on a pro-poor basis and generates income for the local community.

My role within this has to date been find the places that are suitable for visitors and to develop a network of contacts in those regions. In Babati I have sat with the school development committee and discussed plans with them on how we might move forward. I am currently focused on setting up the website, (www.livingstonetanzaniatrust.com) and developing a marketing strategy so that we can launch ourselves on the unsuspecting world!

Editor: How did you initially become involved in cultural tourism?
Julian: I have spent many years travelling the world and have always enjoyed the beauty of it. But I got restless on the beaches and found the most satisfaction and enjoyment came from interacting with local people (who were not trying to rob you in the process!!) Not only does this level of interaction take away all the stresses that you may be under but also gives you a clear perspective on life. Actually doing something is a better stress-buster than doing nothing.

When the opportunity arose, I took a Master degree in Development Management with sustainable tourism and am now putting into practice all that I’ve learnt.

Editor: What made you decide to work in Tanzania? What are the major barriers for economic and social development in Tanzania?
Julian: Tanzania is politically and socially stable. The founding father Julius Nyerere did an amazing job of joining all the different tribes to being first and foremost Tanzanians. Safety is of paramount importance and Tanzania is a safe country. Tanzania is also blessed with the best game parks in the world, staggering is not strong enough, and parts of the countryside outside the game parks are even more beautiful, there is so much to explore. The history is also fascinating, the coastal influences of the Indian, Arab, and European traders, the colonial influences of both Germany and Britain also add an interesting angle.

BUT Tanzania is poor, not starving poor, but just poor. After independence it, like many other countries followed a socialist path that failed to reap the promised rewards. Now, after 20 years of World Bank influence, the country is improving economically. The infrastructure is being improved and that will have a huge impact on businesses being able to get their goods further a field. But greater investment is needed. Other countries have better technology and can price Tanzanian out of the global markets, but with the right investments, Tanzania can grow. The Government has rolled out the “Rural Integration Programme”, a programme that provided community level capacity building to help them identify their own needs and to ask for assistance, bottom up development rather than the usually unsuccessful top down approach. This is very forward thinking and will in time produce great results.

Editor: What are your hopes for the future, both for yourself and your company?
Julian: I hope that LTT can operate all over Tanzania and then be franchised to work in other countries. Tourism is the largest industry in the world and it needs to get a pro-poor focus. I am therefore eager that LTT and I continue on this path

Editor: Did you think of yourself as a social entrepreneur before joining i-genius?
I was not aware of the term until I arrive in back in Feb 07, but through I-genius and the uptake of this term by the press I am aware that I might be one, or at least I might be one once we are up and running and the dream being realised.

Editor: How has i-genius helped you so far?
Julian: At first I was sceptical about its values, thinking it was just another place where my details would get lost in the ether. Then I was contacted by someone through i-genius, who asked for my opinions and assistance. I was flattered and of course was happy to help. She told me of all sorts of things on the site that would benefit me and so I looked again, and found others doing really interesting things, people of like minds trying to make things better in their own way and I am meeting one next week to see how we might be able to benefit each other. It is networking made easy. I am now a fan.